


Brothers

by GEGabriels



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Combeferre & Enjolras Platonic Life Partners, Coronavirus Healthcare Workers, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, I love these three so much its beyond words, Quarantine, Triumvirate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27321406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GEGabriels/pseuds/GEGabriels
Summary: "You didn't hafta squeal," He pointed out, Enjolras snatching his phone, and sitting down opposite of Courfeyrac. His scrolled through his phone for a few minutes, his face suddenly lighting up,"It's… Halloween, tomorrow, apparently," Enjolras said, his eyes wide. Courfeyrac hurried over,"Really - Oh God, it is, HOW DID I LOSE TRACK?!" He yelled, Enjolras slamming his hands over his ears at the sudden loud yelling, and glaring at Courfeyrac.The Triumvirate deals with Halloween in quarantine. Happy Halloween, everyone!
Relationships: Combeferre & Courfeyrac & Enjolras (Les Misérables), Combeferre & Courfeyrac (Les Misérables), Combeferre & Enjolras (Les Misérables), Courfeyrac & Enjolras (Les Misérables), Courfeyrac/Jean Prouvaire, Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Misérables)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	Brothers

"I'm ordering pizza."

"We had pizza yesterday."

"I can't cook anything today, Enjolras. We have barely anything in the kitchen."

"Can I skip supper?"

"No."

Courfeyrac listened to his two best friends talk, while sitting on the couch, scrolling through the news on his phone with a sigh.

"I swear the campaign ads are getting worse and worse," He commented, flopping onto his back, and laying his head on the arm of the couch. Combeferre nodded, taking his glasses off and cleaning them with the end on his shirt,

"Someone needs to go out and get groceries at some point," Combeferre pointed out. All three boys were silent, for a few seconds, Enjolras finally speaking up, from where he was sitting at the kitchen table with Combeferre,

"I'll do it," Enjolras said. Combeferre shook his head,

"No, you're the most likely to catch something," He pointed out, Enjolras shrugging. Courfeyrac sat up,

"I can do it tomorrow," He volunteered. Combeferre nodded,

"Just wake up early to go get the groceries, so that we can all hopefully have breakfast," Combeferre ordered, Courfeyrac giving him a mock-salute, leaning back against the couch.

"How was work?" Courfeyrac asked Combeferre, who tensed, for a moment, before looking out the kitchen window,

"Not that bad. No Covid hospitalizations, for this wave" He replied, Enjolras frowning,

"You think there will be some, soon?" He enquired, Combeferre solemnly nodding,

"I do," He confirmed, thinking for a moment, "If we get any cases, which I'm certain we will, I'm self-isolating for a bit," He murmured, staring down at his hands. Enjolras and Courfeyrac both began protesting over one another, Combeferre calming them down with a loud snap of his fingers, "Simmer down, hotheads," He said, "One at a time," Enjolras, of course, went first,

"I hated it when you did that the first time," He shifted nervously in his seat, "Do you have to do it again?" Combeferre gave Enjolras a weak smile from across the table,

"I will not risk your and Courfeyrac's safety," He firmly stated, standing up, and taking his phone out of his back pocket, texting someone, probably their nearest pizza place.

"Y'know, if one of us were to get it, the other two probably would," Courfeyrac pointed out. The three boys fell silent, for a second, Enjolras placing his elbows on the table, while Courfeyrac leaned over the side of the couch.

"Also another reason for me to self isolate," Combeferre responded. Courfeyrac sighed,

"C'mon, Ferre-" He started, Combeferre cutting him off,

"I work in a hospital. My risk is over ten times higher than the average person. If the cases start going up here, I _am_ self-isolating," Combeferre said. Enjolras and Courfeyrac didn't respond to that, Combeferre considering the battle won. Enjolras started ranting on the stupidity of anti-maskers, for the thirtieth time that day, and Courfeyrac zoned out, at that.

Quarantine had been tough on the three best friends, though Combeferre pointed out that they were lucky they _could_ quarantine, to some extent. Courfeyrac, a teacher, had been struggling to adjust to the rather complicated technology that he was now required to use to teach. And his students seemed to all somehow have it figured out already, so they held an advantage to him in disputes about grades and tests and whatnot. He also had Gavroche in his class, of whom would definitely rebel against any and every piece of perceived injustice in the new technology, which was getting to be a handful. Courfeyrac actually missed seeing his students in person, a lot. He was glad he was able to continue to remotely work rather than still be at the school, like some teachers were. Courfeyrac was bored, when he wasn't working. And he got sad a lot. He missed Jehan, his boyfriend, and the rest of his friends. Courfeyrac was not used to just being with Enjolras and Combeferre anymore.

Enjolras had been able to work remotely as well, and had been overrun with random assignments and articles to write. A few of his significant coworkers had quit, for whatever reason, and a few others were dealing with their own issues, leaving Enjolras with the bulk of their work. Enjolras was ecstatic. Combeferre was less than pleased, however, as Enjolras oftentimes forgot to sleep because he was working. Combeferre always seemed rather worried over Enjolras' state of health, even more than he usually was. Which was fair, since Enjolras didn't have the best track record. Enjolras was deeply feeling the loss of his boyfriend, Grantaire's constant presence, and that made him miserable, and snappish. But at the same time, he also seemed to long for physical affection way more than he usually did. Courfeyrac had conducted entire Zoom meetings with Enjolras melted into his side. The kids didn't mind though. They loved Enjolras.

And Combeferre… Probably had it the worst out of the three of them. He worked at a hospital. He had treated a few Covid cases that had gone on in their community already, and watched one senior man die. He had become more withdrawn, and was constantly stressed. He worried over Enjolras, a lot, as the man was technically immunocompromised, for multiple reasons. The only times Courfeyrac had ever seen Combeferre this worried was the time that Eponine got arrested, when Grantaire had been hit by a car, or one of Enjolras various health misadventures, that should have killed him, but didn't.

"Text, from Grantaireeeeee," Courfeyrac exclaimed, as Enjolras' phone beeped in front of Courfeyrac, on the coffee table.

"Hey, give it here!" Enjolras yelled, rushing over. Courfeyrac dangled the phone above Enjolras' head, just out of the blonde's reach.

"Jump for it," Courfeyrac taunted, Enjolras growling, and stamping his foot on the ground,

"Ferre?!" He shouted, Combeferre sighing, and Courfeyrac rolling his eyes,

"Tattletale," He muttered, Enjolras frowning. Combeferre stood up,

"Courfeyrac, for Heaven's sake, give him his phone, and stop acting like children, _both_ of you," Combeferre growled, pushing his chair into the table with a loud banging noise, before stalking off to his room, and slamming the door. Enjolras crossed his arms,

"I hope you're happy," He said to Courfeyrac, who shrugged,

"You didn't hafta squeal," He pointed out, Enjolras snatching his phone, and sitting down opposite of Courfeyrac. His scrolled through his phone for a few minutes, his face suddenly lighting up,

"It's… Halloween, tomorrow, apparently," Enjolras said, his eyes wide. Courfeyrac hurried over,

"Really - Oh God, it is, HOW DID I LOSE TRACK?!" He yelled, Enjolras slamming his hands over his ears at the sudden loud yelling, and glaring at Courfeyrac.

"Y'know, I'm done shouting now, you can uncover your ears," Courfeyrac pointed out after a few seconds, Enjolras simply staring pitifully at him, and curling into himself,

"No. Safe here," He muttered, Courfeyrac sighing,

"I'm gonna go tell Combeferre," He said, doubting that Enjolras could hear him behind his hands. Courfeyrac wasn't really shocked at Enjolras' reaction. That was just one of Enjolras… Oddities. It had happened many times before. Courfeyrac rushed over to Combeferre's bedroom, knocking rapidly on the wooden door.

" _I'm changing, Courfeyrac,"_ Combeferre replied, Courfeyrac rolling his eyes,

"That never stopped me," He then proceeded to barge into the room, finding Combeferre in the middle of putting on a new shirt. Combeferre raised an eyebrow, putting his shirt on completely, before crossing his arms,

"What is it, Courfeyrac?" He enquired, Courfeyrac grinning,

"Halloween's tomorrow!" Combeferre's eyes flickered back and forth from Courfeyrac, to the door.

"I swear, if this is some joke-" He started, Courfeyrac shaking his head, and pulling out his own phone,

"No, look at the date," He said. Combeferre inhaled,

"Oh." Courfeyrac then exited Combeferre's room, not bothering to close the door behind him, as he strode up to Enjolras, who was invested in what looked like a deep conversation with Mouse the cat.

"Hey, I hate to tell you this, but Mouse doesn't speak English," Courfeyrac smirked, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Species are a social construct," Enjolras replied.

"Oh my God, man," Courfeyrac proceeded to sit on the counter, humming to himself. The pizza soon arrived, and Courfeyrac disinfected it to a suitable amount, "We don't have any salad, do we?" He asked, Enjolras shaking his head,

"No. But there's like, five cherry tomatoes in the fridge, I think, why?" Courfeyrac rolled his eyes, as he washed his hands using the kitchen sink,

"Because you're not supposed to eat _just_ pizza, you're supposed to have, like, a salad on the side or something," He lectured, Enjolras frowning,

"You are?" He asked, Courfeyrac tutting,

"What else should I expect from the guy who asked Combeferre if he could eat _air_ and have it count as a meal three years ago… Now, go get Combeferre, tell him pizza's here." Enjolras scurried off, Mouse strolling over to Courfeyrac, her little pink nose twitching, as she was enticed by the scent of pizza. Courfeyrac simply gently pushed her away with his foot, as he set the three plates down, one at a time, on the kitchen table. He doubted the kitchen table had ever been used as much as it had since quarantine had started. Combeferre and Enjolras eventually came out of Combeferre's room, and the three ate in silence. It wasn't that they were mad at each other, they were just not used to eating dinner together. Even after a few months of regularly doing this, it still didn't feel typical. They'd always been too busy together to eat with one another, back before quarantine. They almost never ate lunch together, and breakfast was always eaten in a rush. Quarantine was reminding Courfeyrac just how much he hated - and just how much he loved, his best friends.

"So it's actually Halloween tomorrow?" Combeferre broke the silence. Enjolras hummed in agreement,

"I almost forgot that it was on the 31st," He admitted. Combeferre nodded,

"I only was really keeping track of what shifts I had when… Courfeyrac, why didn't you know it was Halloween until now?" Courfeyrac chuckled, leaning back in his seat, in the way that always annoyed Combeferre,

"I teach 8-year-olds, Ferre. I've had some of them put the date down as February 35th, 1449, before. I take their ideas on what the date is with a grain of salt," He replied. That earned him a small breath of laughter from his two best friends.

"I should be free tomorrow night if you all wanted to do something," Combeferre offered. Courfeyrac beamed, embracing his friend, of whom stiffened.

"Oh, I was sure you'd be working tomorrow night, so happy you're not!" Courfeyrac expressed, Combeferre awkwardly patting his head, before gently removing him from his body.

"What is there even to do?" Enjolras questioned, as he moved his chair closer to Combeferre's, before leaning his head down on his shoulder, "It's not like we can see anyone."

"We can Zoom them," Courfeyrac pointed out, Enjolras scowling,

"It's _not_ the same," He growled, Combeferre putting a careful arm in front of Enjolras, in case he tried to instigate a fight. Courfeyrac had been punched in the face once this month, and even with Enjolras' tiny stick-like arms, once was more than enough, thank you very much.

"Enj's right, It's not the same. But look at it this way, at least we have each other," Combeferre murmured.

"Till death do us part," Courfeyrac piped in, Enjolras groaning,

"It's bad enough that my _boyfriend_ already thinks we're all romantically involved, if R were to hear that, he'd assume we're fucking married," Enjolras grumbled, taking his head off of Combeferre's shoulder, and laying it down on the table, his slice of pizza, only half-finished, forgotten beside him. Courfeyrac was glad to finish it for the blonde.

"Platonic soulmates," Courfeyrac suddenly said, Enjolras and Combeferre frowning,

"What?" Combeferre asked, Courfeyrac grinning, wiggling around in his seat,

"That's what we are, platonic soulmates!" Enjolras frowned,

"It still sounds like we're romantically involved," He complained.

"Oh, c'mon, it has _platonic_ in it," Courfeyrac argued, Combeferre holding up his hand,

"Brothers," He suggested. Both Enjolras and Combeferre gave him a confused look, "We're brothers." Neither young man argued with that.

* * *

"Hey, Courf," Combeferre walked into the kitchen the next day, leaning against the counter, wearing a blue sweater. He had just returned from an exhausting day at work, Courfeyrac could tell, based off of the shadows underneath Combeferre's eyes.

"Hey," Courfeyrac said, "How was work?" Combeferre simply groaned in response, "Not great. Very busy. I went over to Eponine's after work, actually, delivered some food for her and little Gavroche and Azelma," He reported. Courfeyrac nodded, grabbing one of the two plates he had sitting on the counter,

"That's good, I worry over those three a lot. I worry over all of the poor people. And here, I made grilled cheese," Courfeyrac said, handing the plate to Combeferre. It was currently 7:00 pm, according to the clock above the counter, that Courfeyrac quickly glanced at.

"I also worry over the less fortunate in these times, even more so than usual. Winter's coming on fast, we ought to do our regular efforts, and more, to help them. And thank you for the food," Combeferre ate quickly, he and Courfeyrac having a light chat about human rights, before Combeferre finished, standing up,

"Has Enjolras eaten yet?" He asked Courfeyrac, who shook his head,

"He's busy yelling at some co-worker from his room, thought it was best not to disturb him," Courfeyrac replied, as Combeferre washed off his plate, before placing it in the dishwasher, which currently had a ridiculous amount of knives in it for whatever reason. Perhaps Enjolras had finally snapped, and the news would be reporting a murder any minute now. Combeferre walked into Enjolras' room, and Courfeyrac texted Jehan before Combeferre returned to the kitchen, an annoyed Enjolras following him.

"Honestly, it would take them 10 freaking minutes to fix it, but no -" He started, Combeferre cutting him off,

"No work talk right now, please," He begged, Enjolras sighing,

"Fine. The presidential debates?" Both Combeferre and Courfeyrac shuddered,

"God, no," Combeferre said, as Courfeyrac poked through the cabinets, pulling out a box of something,

"Ta-da," He exclaimed, revealing there to be three doughnuts in the box, "Since it's Halloween, and all," He explained. Combeferre rolled his eyes,

"I got that, believe it or not," He smirked, crossing his arms. Enjolras, meanwhile, wrinkled his nose,

"No thanks," He said, Courfeyrac pointing at the doughnut in the middle,

"You suuuuure?!" He asked, "It's chocolate with chocolate cream insiiiiide." Enjolras huffed, but his eyes glittered with amusement,

"Fine," He quickly gave in, Courfeyrac grinning,

"C'mon, guys, we can have a movie night!" He suggested, Combeferre and Enjolras both looking thoughtful,

"I dunno, I've got work to do, still," Enjolras countered, Combeferre uncrossing his arms,

"And I have sleep to catch up on, still, and a few different books I was planning to-" Courfeyrac cut him off,

"Please?! It's Halloween, come on!" He whined, both men sighing,

"Okay," They said at the same time, Courfeyrac grinning, before walking into his room, and pulling one of his multicolored blankets off of the bed, and setting it down on the couch. He did the same with Enjolras' French-flag blanket, and Combeferre's rather geeky space blanket. Combeferre turned out the lights, and swept the floor, Enjolras running the dishwasher, before all three boys curled up on the couch, each eating a doughnut, and snuggled into at least one of the others, if not both.

"What movie are we watching?" Enjolras asked, Courfeyrac shrugging,

"We could do something horror-themed-" Combeferre started, Enjolras and Courfeyrac instantly cutting him off,

" _No_ ," They both firmly stated. Courfeyrac could handle some Horror movies, but others freaked him out on whole other levels. And Enjolras almost never even actually _watched_ Horror movies, as he spent most of them cuddled into whoever he was watching them with, his eyes firmly closed, while he wore noise-blocking headphones. Combeferre, for whatever reason, wasn't scared by Horror movies at all. This might be because of his logical personality, which was more concerned with the inaccurate murders than the fact that murders were actually happening in movies. Or he was a "psychopath," as Courfeyrac had once so kindly put it. Or, Horror films just really didn't bother him. No matter what the reason was, it was two against one, and so, Courfeyrac made the next suggestion,

"Disney?" It was Combeferre and Enjolras' turn to reply with a strict,

" _NO!"_ Courfeyrac pouted,

"You both are sticks in the mud. I swear, if you two suggest _another_ documentary on how _crayons_ are made," He muttered, Combeferre humming,

"I actually found a good one on-" He started, Courfeyrac shaking his head,

"Nuh-uh, no, no way, we're watching Charlie Brown and that's final," He asserted. There were no arguments to this, and so, "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," was put on. It only took 15 minutes for both Enjolras and Combeferre to fall asleep, exhausted from their work, much to Courfeyrac's amusement. Enjolras was curled up on top of Combeferre, both boys wrapped in blankets, and Goddangit, it was too cute for Courfeyrac to not spam all of their friends with. Courfeyrac smiled, leaning his head on Combeferre's shoulder, drifting off about thirty minutes later.

And when Mouse the cat saw all three friends - no, brothers, peacefully asleep together, Goddangit, it was too cute for her to not wake them up by screeching and bolting into the wall.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, happy Halloween. Or day after Halloween now, I suppose, since it's past midnight. Anyways, hope you all are safe and healthy. I have two other Halloween-themed fics for Les Mis, one sickfic and one kidfic, in progress. They should be out within a week.
> 
> For this work, I really just wanted to imagine how these three would deal with quarantine. Probably get on each others nerves, XD, but would also remember just how much they love each other. And poor Combeferre is just really stressed in general. And also, wanted to make it Halloween-themed.
> 
> I dressed up as Eponine this year, and my little brothers went as Grantaire and Gavroche. We had a great time. Hope you all had a happy Halloween as well!
> 
> Let me know what think about the story. Thanks for reading!


End file.
